Andy Warhol – genius of pop art and conceptual artistry

The life of the king of pop art also known under the nickname "Drella" (appeared as a result of the merger of Dracula and Cinderella) resembles both a tragic and a comedy film that can hardly leave anyone indifferent. His story is full of bright events, ambiguous incidents, gossip and intrigue. We will tell you about who Andy Warhol really was, whether there was love in his life, why he was almost killed and what his creative path was like.

Pop art genius's biography

To begin with, Andy Warhol is not the real name of an internationally renowned artist of the ХХth century. In fact, his name was Andrew (Andrew) Warhola, but when he moved to New York as a young man, he decided to change it. Andy was born in 1928 to a family of immigrants from Slovakia who moved to Pittsburgh (USA) in search of a better life. He was the third child in a family of four and was an especially sickly one. In the third grade the boy became seriously ill with rheumatic chorea and had to stay at home for a long time. The disease provoked convulsions and involuntary movements of the limbs, as well as increased emotionality. Against this background, the child developed serious complexes and a panic fear of doctors which pursued him throughout his subsequent life.

Upon returning to school, he was again faced with a test. Old friends and peers mocked the guy and made him an outcast in the class. After that the fear of society increased even more and took root in the boy's mind. The next tragic event happened when the father of the family, Andrei Warhola, died in an accident in the mine where he worked. As a result, young Andy's dream of going to university failed, and instead he studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. There the young man studied graphic design, because he had long understood that his life would certainly be associated with art.

After completing his studies and receiving a bachelor's degree, the guy goes to conquer New York. There, first of all, he takes a new name for himself, Andy Warhol, which the whole world will eventually learn about.

At first, life in a big city could hardly seem like someone's dream. The money was catastrophically small, housing had to be shared with a bunch of the same poor fellows, and cockroaches ran everywhere. They say one of them even ran out from Andy's portfolio when he came for an interview at the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar. Anyway, as a result, the guy was hired, and since then his name began to sound in high circles of the New York crowd more and more often.

After that the artist began collaborating with many brands and stars, and in 1952 he arranged his first solo exhibition of his artworks. Its peculiarity was silk-screen printing (a type of screen printing), which the artist made one of the main parts of his philosophy. He deliberately degraded the print quality, making the artworks look like a cheap reproduction. Thus, Andy wanted to completely separate the work from the author, and instead created his own signature style.

An important event in the life of Warhol was the opening of his own art studio called "The Factory" in 1962. There he not only created and reproduced his masterpieces, but also made films, wrote books and gathered a whole crowd. His studio was significantly different from the classical idea of the artist's studio. Although, that did not stop him from creating. Rather, such an environment only contributed to this. The Factory was imbued with the spirit of freedom, where everyone could do whatever he/she wanted. Celebrities, scandalous personalities and those who just loved to hang out notably gathered here. With all this, Andy constantly created new masterpieces. The basis of everything was the method of screen printing and silk-screen printing, which he loved. Thus, The Factory produced about 80 copies per month.

In 1965 Edie Sedgwick got to the party in the workshop of the pop art king. Since then Andy and Edie have become inseparable. Almost everywhere they appeared together, wore similar images and hairstyles. He filmed the girl in his films and spoke of her as a muse. Everyone attributed the romance to them and constantly discussed this eccentric couple. However, in addition to Eddie, the artist was ascribed relationships with many men. Therefore, these relations were rather of a friendly nature and eventually ended as abruptly as they began.

Andy didn't bond with people at all. Perhaps the strongest bond he had with his mother, who since childhood paid special attention to her sick son. She who encouraged the boy to draw when she brought him magazines and drawing supplies while he was forced to stay at home. In the future, the artist quite easily and quickly established contacts with people which just as quickly broke up. Scandals and controversies often arose around his personality because of this. But he did not pay much attention to them, until one day such behavior almost led the genius to death.

Attempt

Andy liked Valerie Solanas, a young, ambitious feminist, when they met. The girl repeatedly appeared at The Factory and starred in the films of Warhol. However, the artist's interest in her quickly disappeared. Of course, this caused outrage among Valerie, who hoped for the support of her views from the well-known genius. But the situation escalated even more when she brought Andy her handwritten script for the film, and the master rejected it, calling it too "dirty". They even say that he scornfully threw it after reading it and later lost it, which aroused even more indignation from the girl.

Solanas could not stand such an attitude towards herself and in June 1968 she shot Andy three times at his own Factory. All his "entourage" immediately gathered around Warhol, but the ambulance declared clinical death upon arrival. Despite severe injuries, the artist survived, although the consequences of this event made themselves felt until the end of his days. Having undergone more than one difficult operation, Andy's body was streaked with scars, which he showed without shame in front of cameras. And although the genius said that the assassination attempt did not change him in any way, life at The Factory became different.

After returning from the hospital, Andy stopped endless parties in his art studio and even got a guard. And in addition to his already inherent fear of hospitals, he began to be afraid of women. As a result, he completely stopped filming them in his films. In addition, Warhol's film career began to decline, and more portraits and images of skulls appeared in painting. It seemed as if the artist wanted to capture human mortality in every possible way.

So, the famous but lonely, almost 20 years after the assassination attempt, Andy Warhol died in his own apartment as a result of complications after surgery to remove the gallbladder. Although the operation itself was not difficult, the consequences of the attempt and childhood illness left their mark, and Andy suffered a lung edema, from which he suffocated.

Artworks

Andy from childhood had a penchant for drawing. He began to make collages from magazines and sketches being forced to stay at home due to his illness. As a boy, he attended free courses in art, and by the time he chose a higher educational institution he already knew for sure that he would connect his life with art.

As a result, his talent got noticed pretty quickly. After all, he really stood out, creating vivid paintings in the style of pop art, where everyday things became symbols of the era. Moreover, he was one of the first who began to copy his own artworks using screen printing and silk-screen printing. And of course, he was the most successful in this business.

Warhol's work was perceived ambiguously by the public. Some admired them and considered him a genius, while others called his art low-grade and vulgar. But despite this, as we wrote above, already in 1952 he organized his first solo exhibition, and in 1956 he joined the Art Editors' Club. Well, six years later, an exhibition of Andy Warhol's best artworks took place, after which he received the status of one of the leading masters of pop art from critics.

Of course, the artist's success was reflected in the value of his paintings. Although Warhol believed that art should be publicly available, many of his artworks are fabulous money. Below we have presented you a list of the most expensive paintings by the genius of pop art.

1. "Silver Car Crash" - $ 105.4 million
2. "Eight Elvises" - $ 100 million
3. “Triple Elvis” - $ 81.9 million
4. “Turquoise Marilyn” - $ 80 million
5. "Green Car Crash" - $ 71.7 million
6. “Four Marlons” - $ 69.6 million
7. “Men in Her Life” - $ 63.4 million
8. "Race Riot" - $ 62.8 million
9. "Statue of Liberty" - $ 43.8 million
10. "200 One Dollar Bills" - $ 43.2 million

Many of Andy Warhol's artworks became legendary to some extent, as they conveyed the mood of their time, sociocultural characteristics and simply grabbed the soul with their originality. Among them, four works deserve special attention.

“Campbell's Soup Cans” became fatal in the artist's life. After this artwork fame and prosperity came to him, and the soup of this brand itself became forever associated with Andy Warhol.

"Marilyn Diptych". The artist was inspired to create it by the suicide of the great film star. A week after the tragic incident, he began working on it. He embodied his thoughts on the American celebrity cult, which continues even after their death.

"Red Lenin". This painting was created by Warhol shortly before his death. The author portrayed the cult of personality in his usual manner, and he was right. This work has a so-called "brother" - "Black Lenin", but it is inferior in cost and popularity to its red version.

"Mao" appeared after President Nixon's first trip to China. The artist, inspired by endless Chinese propaganda leaflets, portrayed a dictator equating his status with a pop star like Marilyn Monroe.

Of course, this list can be continued for a long time, it's not for nothing that Andy Warhol is called the genius and the king of pop art and silk-screen printing. His artworks really became a breakthrough in the art world of the ХХth century, and to this day attract a lot of attention.

Summary

Perhaps Andy Warhol was not just an artist, he became an important part of the art of the ХХth century. His work not only made a splash in society, but also influenced fashion trends in various directions. In other words, he had a strong impact on the lifestyle of people of his time and showed that art is in everything, even in things that seem quite ordinary at first glance. For example, now screen printing, which was used by the genius of pop art, is widely used around the world to create paintings, fabrics and prints on a variety of surfaces. He promoted the idea of affordable art, which is an integral part of modern man.